"The conditions are atrocious," says one reader, of the overgrown weeds and vines along Stanley Avenue, outside the site of the former Staten Island Hospital in Tompkinsville.Staten Island Advance/Virginia Sherry

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Using the word “overgrowth” to describe conditions on both sides of Webster Avenue in Tompkinsville, adjacent to the site of long-vacant Staten Island Hospital, would certainly be an understatement.

The mess of jungle-like weeds and vines obscures any sidewalks that might exist and forces pedestrians to walk in the roadway of the the hilly one-way street.

One side of intersecting Stanley Avenue is similarly overgrown, with the entire multi-terraced hillside leading up to the old hospital building covered in out-of-control vegetation.

“The conditions are atrocious,” one reader complained on SILive.com last week.

On Monday morning, a woman dressed in blue scrubs parked her car on Stanley Avenue and headed up Webster, on the way to her job at the Verrazano Nursing Home on Castleton Ave.

“It’s overgrown, it’s horrible, and it smells!” she said, pointing to weeds as high as 10-feet.

An unmistakable stench indeed emanated from the garbage-strewn stretch of Webster on Monday.

“We are appalled that the overgrowth has reached such heights,” said City Councilwoman Debi Rose on Monday. “We will call the Department of Sanitation and the Buildings Department to address this issue.” 